Cruel Mercy
by LadyCordeliaStuart
Summary: Ten Tributes picked by the Capitol elite fight for survival in an elite Arena.
1. Chapter 1

President Snow

It is no shame to learn from others. Much of what I knew about leadership came from my predecessor, Luperca Galba. Before her untimely death, she was a disciple of none other than Niccolo Machiavelli. He, and she, ruled by one fundamental rule: it is best to be loved and feared, but if only one is available, choose fear. For much of my reign, only one had been available, but an opportunity had presented itself to be both at once, each building on the other, and I planned to seize it.

There were ten people sitting around the long, mahogany table in my meeting room. There were ten people, each of whose support and loyalty I wanted to secure or reaffirm. There was Titian Qin, my head Gamemaker. His loyalty and respect was never in question. I invited him only to avoid the insult he would have taken if I had left him out. The others- some Gamemakers and some politicians- were the ones my plan was aimed at. The pleasantries already over, I outlined my plan.

"You know, of course, that a president has power over life and death," I began. "A power than can be cruel, merciful, or both at once. You know also that association with power brings a share of that power, even to that final extent. It is for that reason that we have assembled." I gestured at the wall, triggering a screen to activate, showing a series of pre-recorded images. The images showed the science and technology involved in the cloning process used in Resurrection Games.

"It's nothing you weren't familiar with, but as yet, the choice of picks has always been given to the people. This time, I would like to present that power to you. Each of you, hand-selected by me, may choose a single representative. A champion, if you will, though luckily their fate is not tied to yours. A Tribute who will no doubt be grateful for you for the chance, and most appreciative should they be the winner."

"Another special Games?" one of the politicians asked. "Ten Tributes, picked by us?"

"Exactly," I said. "Sponsorships will be not only allowed, but nearly unlimited. We shall be both sole selectors and sole audience. The Victor will be integrated into the population with a neat and vague explanation," I said.

"It sounds endlessly fun, of course," an enthusiastic senator piped up, "but why?"

"A token of my friendship. And a show of my power," I said.

* * *

 **So there's my explanation for another unconventional Games. Not gonna lie, the reason isn't important so I totally phoned it in. Go ahead and read it so we can forget it and get to the good stuff.**

 **This story has a pre-determined winner, like Calvary and Rhoda. This time I decided to make things more interesting by picking ten people so there would be some suspense. One is the winner and the others are nine red herrings. I picked the red herrings carefully- they're all great Tributes and definitely could be great Victors (or else they're favorites of mine), so hopefully it will be hard to tell which one is the real deal. I did this because I like my chosen Victor so much I didn't want him or her to be in the upcoming Resurrection Games and ruin everyone else's chances.**

 **The list:**

 **Keylor Herald**

 **Vera Busattil**

 **Chrome Cabello**

 **Floki Grimm**

 **Jayden Chadsey**

 **Ember Steiner**

 **Lyte Anderson**

 **Shinju Matsushita**

 **Desiree Redwood**

 **Alinta Fintan**

 **If your Tribute is on this list, you have the right to know if they're the Victor or not. If you want to know, PM me and I'll tell you. If you're not the winner and want your Tribute removed from the story, that's no problem.**

 **This shouldn't take long, since there are only ten characters and I have the Games all planned out already. After this, we'll go to the next normal SYOT.**


	2. ONE MORE TIME

Floki Grimm, D4

I wasn't sure if I'd ended up in Valhalla or Folkvangr this time. Of all the times I'd died, I could never remember the being dead part. Seemed it was time for another one of their crazy Resurrection Games, and they'd picked me again. Lucky me.

I didn't recognize my mentor this time. Four must have been doing well in my absence.

"Hey. I'm Shane," the man said. "You don't really need a mentor or anything. I'm just here to welcome you, I guess."

"Well that's enthusiastic," I said. "Nice tats, though."

"Yeah, I kind of changed my mind a little too late. You can have a different mentor if you want," Shane said.

"That's all right. I kind of changed my mind a little too late, too."

* * *

Ember Steiner, D2

I knew Dad would be the first thing I saw. I was dreading it and dying to see it all at once.

"Daddy?" I said as soon as I saw him. He bent over the bed and squished me almost flat as he hugged me and cried.

"I'm sorry I died," I said, and then I was crying too. I had no reason to be sad. He was the one who lost both his children. I was just the disappointment who let it happen.

"I love you so much," he said. I'd been through the Hunger Games before, but nothing was scarier than seeing my dad cry.

"Is Shui here?" I asked. I could tell from his reaction that he wasn't. Honestly, I was glad for it. I missed my brother like nothing else in the world, but I didn't want Dad to see both his kids die again. One was enough.

* * *

Alinta Fintan, D12

"Heyyyyy, Nubu!" I said when I woke back up. "Don't worry, I'll win this time. You can go on home. You don't have to watch or anything. You get so worked up."

Nubu's guilty expression shifted to confusion. He obviously wasn't used to any of his mentees actually being happy- especially one who'd already died twice. Well, he was sad enough for both of us. I lived a weird half-life dying and coming back over and over, but it was a life and I'd take it. If I let them get me down, it just meant they won. I'd stay happy and determined forever if it meant beating the Capitol.

* * *

Vera Busattil, D4

Frankie was always there. There was nothing in the world more dependable than the man I loved. That was one of many reasons I loved him.

"It's good to see you again," he said. I was glad to see his face was as expressionless as ever. He didn't have hope that I'd win, and he didn't have fear that I'd die.

"Together again, huh?" I asked. "Maybe this time one of us will pull it off."

"I won last time," Frankie said. "I'm a Victor now."

"What? No way!" I said. Good things didn't happen in Panem. Frankie couldn't actually win. "I mean, you were strong enough and all that, but I can't believe it. You're alive forever now?"

"Until I die," he said, cluelessly literal as always.

"I'm glad it was you," I said. He thought I meant I was glad he won, but it was more than that. I was glad that he would be the one watching me die over and over, and not the other way around. He could bear it. I couldn't.

* * *

Shinju Matsushita, D3

Of course I came back. I was immortal. All monsters were. And I knew why they wanted me. They needed a villain. The Games were scarier with monsters. That was why everyone loved the graveyard Arena so much.

I wasn't sure how I felt about it, but my feelings didn't matter. I didn't decide what I was. I'd always been this way. Even if I'd wanted to change, you didn't come back from murdering a child. It was too late for me. My identity was decided. My only choice was to be the monster. I would do my best.

* * *

Lyte Anderson, D6

 _Here we go again._

Every time. Every time, they do this. They have their stupid "Resurrection" Games and drag me back in. They know I'm not going to win. _Everyone_ knows. They just want to see the cute, plucky little medic do his thing again. At least it gave me a chance to live my dream again. I might never be a real doctor, but I'd saved dozens of lives by this point. They all died again (except Kazuo, so I had that going for me, which was nice), but everyone did. No doctor saved lives forever. We just delayed it, and I was about to start doing that one more time.

* * *

Desiree Redwood

 _Darn it, I was so close._

I was eighth out of, what, a hundred Tributes? Not cool, man. If Frankie won, I was going to give him a piece of my mind. _HE ALREADY TOOK ONE, ANYWAY!_

I was the only one of my alliance they picked. I wished Electra could come back and win, but I was a tiny bit glad I wouldn't have to worry about losing her again. She could come back another time and hopefully I could watch from the mentor's side of things.

"So how's Harley, anyway?" I asked Sequoia.

"She got fired," she said.

"What? What for?" I asked.

"Fraternizing with Tributes," Sequoia said. _Oooh. My bad._

* * *

Chrome Cabello, D2

 _Motherf..._

What the _( &# _was that? I was going for water and Jayden just _freaking beats me to death._ Girl had some _serious_ explaining to do. If she won, I was gonna kick her butt. If she was with me in this Games, I was gonna _kick her butt._

 _But let's be reasonable here._ The important thing was to win. No matter how much her butt needed kicking, I had to focus on winning. The best victory of all was to crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of their menfolk.

* * *

Jayden Chadsey, D1

"Wait a minute... _Gator_ attacked Eren?" I asked Peridot.

"Yup," she said.

"So... it wasn't Chrome?" I asked.

"Nope."

"Ohhhh..." This wasn't some humorous misunderstanding, like in a sitcom. I literally beat Chrome to death over a mistaken conclusion.

"So... did they pick Chrome too?" I asked.

"You bet."

"Frick me sideways."

* * *

Keylor Herald, D7

"So it's five Careers, Des the Amazon, the vampire, and three normal people?" I asked.

"More or less," Sequoia said.

I _would_ have been happy to hear it was ten people, and I _would_ have thought it gave me a better chance, but not _those_ ten. The five Careers, plus the vampire, would go right into the Bloodbath and take care of the riffraff- the riffraff being me, Alinta and Lyte. Lyte was the only Tribute in history that the Careers hesitated to kill. Alinta was so young she wasn't a threat. That left me as the first target of five heavily armed, highly trained killers.

"I think maybe this time I'll just run," I said.

"Good idea," Sequoia said.

* * *

 **Ten short intros for ten familiar characters most of you already know. If you new peeps want to learn more:**

 **Floki was first in Power to the People and appeared in All-Stars: The Killer Elite**

 **Ember was in Child's Play**

 **Alinta was first in Power to the People and appeared in All-Stars: Non-Careers**

 **Vera first appeared way back in Over and Over and appeared in both Hunger Games: All-Stars and All-Stars: Non-Careers**

 **Shinju, Chrome and Jayden were in Heart of Darkness**

 **Keylor was in Into Thin Air**

 **I'll be cranking this one out extra fast so expect a lot of back-to-back chapters. The Capitol stuff will also be shorter, since interviews and private sessions won't be happening.**

 **SOME RANDOM QUESTIONS I FORGOT TO ANSWER LAST TIME**

 **Deme was goldenrod**

 **Cain was electric sky blue**

 **the name "ReaderCastellan" is red**


	3. Day One

Jayden Chadsey, D1

All things considered, Chrome took it really well. She saw me cringing when she came into the training room and hesitated.

"So. You beat me to death," she said.

"I thought you killed Eren!" I said.

" _Did_ I kill Eren?" she asked.

"No..." I said. "So I suppose you hate my guts now?"

"Just tell me straight. You wouldn't have killed me if you hadn't thought I killed Eren?" she asked.

"No! Of course not," I said.

"Not ever?" she asked.

"Well, I would have at the end," I said. She nodded sagely.

"See, thing is I believe you. You didn't give me any bull about being loyal to the end, and I do see how you would think I killed Eren. We're Careers. We kill people," she said.

"Wait, so what, you still want to be allies?" I asked, totally confused.

"More of partners. Neither of us can trust the other to the end, but we know each other better than the others. There are five Careers this year. On our own, anything could happen. Paired up, we're still the elite," she said.

"I guess," I said. Chrome was a smart chick. Surely she had some thrice-thought out plan.

"You killed me, but I believe you did it by mistake. It also proved you're so loyal to your allies that you'll kill someone who attacks them. You're the only one I trust enough to ally. You in?" Chrome asked. It sounded crazy, but it _would_ be better to have an ally. I didn't want to fight Ember or Floki on my own. And if worse came to worst, I knew I could kill Chrome.

"Sounds like a plan," I said.

"Just until the end. Them I'm gonna kill you," she said.

* * *

Vera Busattil, D4

Why did Lyte have to have such an innocent face? I'd done a lot of hard things in my life, but nothing was like this.

"Hey, Vera!" he said when he first saw me in the cafeteria. He set his tray down at my table and sat next to me. "What do you think the Arena will be like this time?"

"Hey, Lyte," I said. "Nice to see you again."

"I heard Frankie won last time. You must be super excited," he said.

"Yeah, sure," I said. He cocked his head in concern.

"Is something wrong? You seem sad," he said.

"I've decided to go it alone this time," I said. I wanted to rip the bandage off all at once, but it didn't help at all. It didn't help Lyte, and it certainly didn't help me.

"You don't want to be allies?" he asked. Those big eyes of his got even bigger, and it was all the worse that I knew it wasn't on purpose. I couldn't bear to look at them any longer, and I looked down at my food.

"I'm really aiming to win it this time. I can't have any distractions," I said.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lyte smile sadly. "I am a distraction, aren't I? You don't want to see me die again. That's all right. I'll try to do it out of sight." He took his tray and left me crying into my food.

 _I really_ am _turning into a Victor,_ I thought. _Because they're heartless._

* * *

Alinta Fintan, D12

This time we only had one night before the Games. They would have dropped us right in, but they wanted to check and make sure nothing went wrong, like what happened with Arter. That meant no time to train, not that there was that much more I could learn at this point.

What I needed most of all was a good strategy. I was by far the smallest person in the Games. That made me an easy target, which was both good and bad. The Careers' first thought would be to come for me, but their _second_ thought would be that I wasn't a threat anyway and they should go for someone else. So basically I should play that up for all I was worth. It would also work with the Capitolites, who would want to send things to the cute lil' girl. Especially whoever it was that chose me.

 _I can work with this._

We didn't have interviews or sessions this time, but I wasn't so innocent I didn't know there were always cameras on us. I spent the day hitting one cute spot in the Games Center after another- petting the goats in the petting zoo, eating giant spiral lollipops, ordering cookies to my room, the whole works. I pitched my voice up an octave and giggled adorably throughout the whole endeavor. By the end of the night, I almost made myself throw up with my own cuteness. I never wanted to eat anything sugary again. I felt like I needed to wallow in mud just to balance things out. But with any luck, I was someone's favorite. And we all knew the Capitol chose the Victor.

* * *

Lyte Anderson, D6

There wasn't even any reason for Rose to be here. More accurately, there wasn't any reason for Calvary to be here. Rose was just here because Calvary was here. But anyway, Calvary didn't have any Tributes in this Games. She was just... watching, I guess? And Rose was tagging along, commenting on the Tributes and saying who she wanted to win (me and Alinta were her picks, since we were her age). I was sitting across the room from Vera so it wouldn't be awkward, and that put me right next to Rose, who was slumming with us for lunch.

"I know exactly what the Arena is going to be," I overheard Rose telling Calvary. "I'm not supposed to tell _anyone._ It's super cool, though. _Super-"_ she stopped sharply and started to cough.

"Rose?" Calvary asked. I looked over and saw Rose bent over the table, her hands at her throat and her chest heaving. Calvary gasped and jumped up.

" _Medic!"_ she screamed. She started to pick Rose up under her arm like a football. I shot out of my chair toward them.

"I got it!" I yelled. I pulled Rose from Calvary's grip and flipped her so her back was to my stomach. I clasped my hands in front of her stomach and yanked them up. After two applications, a lump of something green shot from Rose's mouth and she sucked in air loudly. I let go of her and she grabbed on to Calvary as she burst into tears.

"It's okay, you're fine," Calvary said as she tried to soothe Rose. Rose wiped at her eyes and turned to me.

"Thanks for saving me," she said.

"It's nothing," I said. Anyone else would have done the same.

* * *

 **Just this chapter and then it's the night before the Games. I just wanted to get a few POVs in because some people are going to die in the Bloodbath (not necessarily these people, though) and I wanted to squeeze in more action to keep things suspenseful. Pretty soon we'll start right in on the Games.**


	4. Last Night

Chrome Cabello, D2

"Here's what we're going to want to do." I laid out a long sheet of paper on a table in Jayden's room as we discussed our strategy. Even more than normal, planning was going to make the difference in this Games.

"I've been watching the tapes, and I think I know what to expect. Floki doesn't have the heart for this like he used to. He'll fight back against anyone who attacks- and almost certainly win- but he won't go out of his way to come at us. Ember knows we're allied and will want to get a weapon and get out as soon as possible. Shinju's not worth our time and Snow wouldn't let her win. Lyte won't kill so he can sort himself out, most likely at Shinju's hands. Des and Vera aren't a threat to us together, but they're dangerous enough that they won't become the Capitol's darling. That would be Alinta, but it won't last forever. Keylor is the only one who's underdog enough to get support but competent enough to win. He has to be our first target," I said.

"Wow, sounds like you have it all planned out," Jayden said after I finished my speech. I nodded.

"That's not all, either. After the Bloodbath, which we should secure for ourselves as the standing Career pack, our next target should be Ember. She's more bloodthirsty than Floki and stronger than Vera. Vera should come next, and then Floki. After that we'll be through the bottleneck. Whoever's left, if there _is_ anyone left, will be easy."

"Looks like a plan," Jayden said. She wasn't dumb by any means, but I was better at strategic thinking. It made sense that I would draw up a plan and she would execute it. Not as a "general and soldier" sort of thing, just each of us playing to our strengths. And she _was_ strong, obviously.

There was more to the plan, of course, but I wasn't telling her that part. It took a _lot_ to get my trust, and I didn't give it twice. I knew Jayden well enough to know I could fight with her for a while, but we would never be friends again. You don't forgive someone for killing you. The last part of the plan was how I was going to kill her. She had to know it, too. Like I said, she wasn't dumb. She had her own version of the plan's end. We were both watching the other's back, because we were both looking for a chance to stab it.

* * *

Keylor Herald, D7

 _Someone like you could never win._

That was what my father said to me during our last minutes in the Justice Hall. I'd been joking and putting on a brave face, and he wasn't having any of it. I finally asked why he wasn't playing along, and he laid it all out. Seven hadn't won in decades. He didn't think I was going to be the miracle Tribute. I'd argued, putting out reasons and then just begging him to say I could do it. He left without a word of encouragement.

Worst of all, he was right. I died on that mountain. I wasn't even in the top three. I'd never had a chance, and I didn't this time, either. I was against five Careers out of just ten Tributes. Me, Alinta and Lyte were just roadblocks.

I'd had so many plans for the future. The Capitol ripped them all away with a single sheet of paper. They pretended they were giving them back now, but it was a cruel joke. It was bad enough to lose everything once. How could they expect me to hope again? Fires don't restart once they're doused.

I was starting down a dark path, and I stopped myself sharply. I'd always thought I would do a lot of things in life, but that was the extent of my belief in destiny. I never thought my path was laid out or set in stone. We all made our own lives. Just because Seven hadn't won in decades, that didn't affect my chances at all. I was my own person, with my own decisions to make and my own life to gain or lose. The Capitol didn't matter and neither did my father. _I_ was the one who determined if I lived or died. The only way to get all those things back the Capitol stole from me was to reach out and grab them. They ripped them out of my hands, and I was going to rip them back.

* * *

Floki Grimm, D4

A lot of people didn't know about what Whyte and I had. We were careful to keep things discreet. We were both private people, and we didn't want the Capitol seizing on something beautiful and making something tawdry out of it. I'd hoped he would be back with me this time, and his absence stung.

I was a mixed-up bundle of contradictions. I'd lost my thirst for guts and gore, but I still looked forward to the fighting and clamor of the Arena. I wanted to fight and I also wanted to settle into a nice house and start a family, and I wasn't sure which I wanted more. I'd changed my perspective on my opponents, that much was sure. I wasn't going to run in and fight just anyone. Non-combatants had never been targets, so that saved Lyte, Alinta and Keylor. I only really looked forward to fighting people who acted a lot like I used to. It was less about opponents worthy of fighting and more about opponents worthy of killing. Luckily, there were a lot of them in this bunch.

Whoever picked me for this thing, I don't think he knew what he was picking. I wasn't who I used to be. I was still a fighter and still a Viking, but I'd aged, even if my body was the same. I wasn't the fresh-faced young warrior itching for a fight. My personality and motivations had settled, and I felt somehow seasoned. I could still win it, but not the way they probably had in mind.

* * *

Ember Steiner, D2

It was on the tip of my tongue to tell Dad that I didn't want to train with him, but it never quite made it out. I didn't want to face him knowing I'd broken his heart, but the grabbing eagerness in his eyes wouldn't let me defy him. We didn't go to the training room, though. There was nothing else for me there. I'd win as I was or I'd die as I was.

"Can we just play some checkers?"

When I was four years old, Dad taught me how to play checkers. It was a simple game, and I quickly figured out the patterns. It wasn't until much later that I realized I'd never needed the patterns at all. Dad played so terribly he couldn't possibly have won. I'd thought he was just a terrible player and prided myself on being so much cleverer than my father, but I figured it out eventually. _No one_ was that terrible at checkers. And no one pounded the table, moaned dramatically, flipped the board upon losing, and demanded a rematch without an ulterior motive.

"Ack, right through my defenses," Dad said when I got another checker across the board into the king space he'd unnecessarily vacated for me.

"There's no hope for you now," I said. Right away I wanted to take it back. I glanced up sharply, but he didn't notice.

"I can't believe it," Dad said when I won. "Have you been reading strategy books? Are these checkers weighted? I demand a rematch. Next time I'll get you."

"That'll be the day," I said. And it really was true. He'd never beat me in checkers. He never let me lose.

 _But you can't make it so I always win._

* * *

 **That takes care of everyone but Shinju and Des. I'll give them longer POVs in the countdown next chapter.**


	5. Countdown

Desiree Redwood, D7

Electra wasn't here with me this time. I was a complete person on my own, but I was also a _different_ person on my own. It scared me to say it, but without allies, there was no need to hold back. I didn't have to worry about what they'd think of me or who I was becoming in their eyes. Last time, when I was alone, that was when I really became a threat. This time I was alone from the start.

One day after we came back, and some of us were already about to die. _Are they ever gonna make this thing bigger?_ I thought as I squeezed into the tube. It wasn't like they didn't know how big I was. How did Frankie even fit at all?

I had to laugh when the tube went up far enough for me to see the Arena. It was indoors this time, and a lot smaller than most Arenas. Fitting, I guess, since there was only ten of us. It wasn't really that much smaller, though. Snow's mansion was huge.

Us poor District folk didn't see much of the president's house, but I recognized it from a few Capitol propos. We were in a ring around the rosewood table in his... _dining room? Meeting room? Something fancy, anyway._ There was a pristine white tablecloth and silver candelabras on the table, but more importantly, it was also the Cornucopia. Survival items weren't necessary here, but the weapons would decide everything. Especially the silver-plated revolver.

I was between Ember and Jayden, and I _would_ have been scared, but that handgun was my ticket out. Every Career in the ring was going to be wrestling for that piece. None of them would pay attention to me as I darted in diagonally, grabbed my axe, and ducked out the door on the other side of the room. Whoever got the gun would start shooting right away, but they'd be too late. I had long legs and I knew how to use them.

 _59, 58, 57..._

* * *

Chrome Cabello, D2

This made our job easier. The other Careers might have played their cards more cagey this time, knowing we were the only allies. Now they had to go in. Whoever had that six-shooter, which almost certainly had six bullets, controlled the game. It would be a close-range, tightly packed battle on that round table.

Chrome and I locked eyes, and the plan was communicated. Jayden was the hand-to-hand specialist. She'd hold off the others while I got the goods. In turn, I wouldn't shoot her in the back yet. A gun only had so many bullets. After that, I'd need a partner again.

 _44, 43, 42..._

* * *

Floki Grimm, D4

I was between Vera and Alinta. I couldn't have asked for anything better. I'd never fought in an Arena with Vera before, but traditions died hard, especially with me. I didn't want to fight a girl from Four and she didn't look eager to fight me either. Alinta was minding her own business, and I was just glad she wasn't by Shinju. My plan was to grab the double-headed axe placed there just for me and clear out to make a plan. Unless someone got in my way, they were safe. If anyone _did_ give me trouble, they'd find out why they called us berserkers.

 _38, 37, 36..._

* * *

Alinta Fintan, D12

Floki was a weird dude, but I was glad I was next to him. He could have picked me up one-handed and smashed me over his knee like a gorilla, but I didn't think he would. I was more worried about the girl who called herself a vampire. Lucky for me, she was across the circle from me. There was a door behind me, and I was going whatever way kept me farthest from her.

 _22, 21, 20..._

* * *

Shinju Matsushita, D3

The last seconds ticked down, and all Hell broke loose. Which was perfect for me, because that was my home.

I'd learned a little from my last Arena. Even a monster could get taken down by some of these humans. It was unnatural how hard they trained. I ignored the larger targets and set my sights on Alinta. She saw me looking at her and bolted for the door behind her. There was a table between me and her, but I could fix that. I jumped onto a chair and vaulted onto the table, where most of the other Tributes were already fighting. The tablecloth jerked under me from all the movement, and I had to step light to avoid a fall. I was going to run her down and chew her open. I'd taste her blood while it was warm and bubbling.

I ran sideways past Vera as she was on her way to the Cornucopia. She turned and pain arced across my chest and shoulder. I stumbled and fell forward off the table, and I slid in a slick of blood. I looked up and saw her continuing toward the weapons, not even looking back at me. The steak knife she'd grabbed from a place setting glittered in her hand.

I had so much blood inside me. I didn't know it still had so much pressure. I'd thought I was cold inside, like a corpse. Not yet, I wasn't.

* * *

 **It worked better this time to have one actual Bloodbath POV. The rest of the Bloodbath is up next.**

 **PS no obituaries, since Shinju isn't dead yet.**


	6. Bloodbath

Keylor Herald, D7

It all depended on whether or not a Career went after me. If they all ran for the gun on that silver platter, I had a chance. If even a single one targeted me, there was nothing to do but die.

Vera went for the gun, pausing only to cut down Shinju. Chrome and Jayden went for the gun. Floki grabbed an axe and left. And Ember came for me.

 _No no no no..._ I realized, in total panic, what Ember was thinking. Her platform had been behind a pile of swords. She didn't go for the gun because _she hadn't seen it._ She didn't know she was in as much danger as I was. In a bizarre turn of events, my only chance was to warn her.

"There's a gun!" I yelled. The words were lost over the din of clanging metal, Shinju screaming, and Tributes rolling around on the table. I looked over my shoulder so she could see I was saying something as I ran. I saw her eyebrows knit in confusion, but she kept coming. Seven kids were trained for lifting, not running. I was no match for an athlete. Ember ran up behind me and grabbed the back of my shirt. She threw me down sideways and I landed on my side. I flipped onto my back to push myself up and saw her crashing down toward me with her elbow crooked at the level of my neck.

 _Doggonit, Ember. If you'd just listened..._

* * *

Lyte Anderson, D6

The strange girl fro Three was hurt. Vera cut her all open. It didn't seem like Vera to attack a little girl, but I'd heard some ugly rumors about Shinju. I had no idea what I was getting into, but I knew what I had to do. I reached her where she was crouched on the floor and grabbed her around the waist.

"Come on!" I urged. I yanked her toward one of the doors and she stumbled after me. Any one of the Careers, or anyone else, could have killed us, but none of them made a move. Shinju already looked done for, and Vera probably told the others what would happen to anyone who went after me. I looked behind me as we made it through the frame. I was glad to see Vera was still all right. She was fighting on the table with the others. Alinta was safe, too- I caught a glimpse of her fleeing out another door.

The door we picked led to a pavilioned parlor bordered with stone columns. White and black checkered marble lay under our feet as we made our way into the middle of the room. I took a look at the gracefully arcing marble staircase and pulled Shinju that way.

"Up the stairs," I said. The Careers wouldn't want to go up the stairs unless they had to. They wouldn't like being on the lower ground. They'd see our blood trail, but that couldn't be helped. We could only hope they'd think a wounded Shinju crawled off to die.

We had maybe two minutes before the Bloodbath was over and the others came looking for us. We had to get as far as possible before that. We were both small. We could hide anywhere. We started up the stairs, and on the way, I heard the first shot.

* * *

Jayden Chadsey, D1

I laughed out loud when Ember went after Keylor, though she didn't hear me. What a stroke of luck! The poor girl couldn't see the gun. Vera did, though. She went for it like an arrow, and she almost got there before I intercepted her. I aimed a punch at her that would have caved her face in if she hadn't done the only thing possible to avoid it. She flopped down on the table, kicking at my legs after she got down. Girl could think on her feet, I gave her that. I was about to kick back when she straight up swiped a steak knife at my ankles.

 _I only need another minute anyway,_ I thought. Neither of us could get to the gun while the other was fighting, but Chrome had a clear path. Vera looked behind me and went white when she saw my ally pick up the silver revolver. Chrome turned around to shoot her, but Vera was already in the air. She launched herself over the pile of swords that had blocked Ember's view, twisting in midair to grab a katana on her way.

I could see the calculations in Chrome's head. If she went on the other side of that pile to get a clear shot at Vera, she risked a sword in the face. If she went around safely, the others would have time to get away. A bird in the hand was worth two in the bush, and that was the same conclusion Chrome arrived at. She abandoned Vera and selected a different target.

* * *

Ember Steiner, D2

First blood was mine. It wasn't the sort of thing I cared about or considered an accomplishment, but it showed my status as a frontrunner. If Shinju died of her wounds, as she most likely would, that was one-fifth of us already gone. Lyte and Alinta were both dead ends, so that just left six. A one in six chance already. Better odds than I'd had in a long time.

There had been sounds of a fierce struggle behind me as I ran after Keylor. Evidently the Careers all wanted the same things in the Cornucopia, or else they just all wanted a fight. No one else had died yet, though. Everyone in that fight could hold their own.

"Ember!"

It was Chrome's voice. I turned to see her standing in the middle of the table, completely unafraid. The chandeliers around the room were swinging from all the chaos, making shadows flicker across her face. Jayden was behind her and Floki was disappearing out of the far door, carrying an axe. All of that I saw in an instant, and an instant was all I had, because of the gun in her hands. The gun pointed straight at my head.

* * *

 **10th place: Keylor Herald- Neck broken by Ember**

 **Keylor was sort of the odd man out. I had nine solid picks and needed one more. I wanted to at least have a _few_ guys, so it had to be a man. Since I picked the Tributes based on who I thought would make people think they might be a winner, there weren't as many guys to pick from, since you all know I favor girls. In the poll I did forever ago, someone suggested Keylor, so I sort of just picked him because I needed someone. I knew he wouldn't fool you as much- and he didn't- so I killed him early. **

**9th place: Ember Steiner- Shot by Chrome**

 **Ember has a ton of possibilities and stories. This particular time I didn't write the story for her, but she's one of the Tributes I wanted to clear this Victor out of the way of for the upcoming Resurrection Games. Her development and advancement will be much more in focus there. This time around she was one of the nine placeholders. The non-Victor Tributes are red herrings, so I just killed them in the order that let the story flow. They'll have way more agency in upcoming Resurrection stories. I more or less consider this Games as a blip on their radar- nothing that happens here will traumatize or adversely affect them when they come back later.**

 **Two down already! I have everything planned out this time since it's so much shorter, so it should be pretty quick to get through. But then, when I don't have everything planned out, I still write at the same speed. I usually fly by the seat of my pants, thinking no more than a chapter in advance, and things just kind of come together.**

 **BACKGROUND NOTE: Snow's house in the movies was Swan House, which is some cool mansion. So I used pictures of that. The dining hall appeared in the movie and the staircase room is just Google.**


	7. Monster Tamer

Alinta Fintan, D12

This was both the best and worst Arena for someone like me. Such a small space meant I was always close to the Careers, but it wasn't just any small space. It was a _mansion._ Mansions had a million nooks and crannies for someone my size to hide it. It was going to drive the Careers crazy looking in every giant urn and under every bed for me.

I wasn't somewhere stupid like under a bed, either. I was scrunched into a bedside chest of drawers, behind a quilt. Even if Chrome or Jayden thought I was inside a random drawer maybe a fourteen inches tall and two feet deep, if they pulled on the handle, they'd see the edge of a quilt and close it right back up. It was stuffy and cramped, but I was set for weeks.

The only problem was water. The first night I could do without, but it didn't matter. I would need it eventually. I passed a bathroom on the way to my hiding spot, but I couldn't bring any water back, because I was afraid I would leave a trail. I'd been waiting for a good time to venture out. Night was too obvious, so I waited until almost morning. "The witching hour", as my grandma used to call it.

There was another problem this small Arena carried with it, one the Gamemakers probably didn't even consider. Whatever the Arena, people still had to... use the bathroom. Therein lay the problem. I couldn't flush. The sound would bring the Careers. I couldn't _not_ flush. The Careers would be patrolling, and they would check. Not to mention the fact that I would die of both embarrassment _and_ violence if the Careers found me because they smelled my poop. Luckily, my time in my blankety coffin had been well spent- I had a plan. Number one went in the bathtub drain. Number two... also went in the bathtub drain. It would just need a little help. From my feet.

I didn't hear anything as I pushed the drawer open and unfolded myself. I held a pillow out the doorway before I went, and nothing happened. I stuck out a hand, and then my face. There was no one in the hall, and the bathroom was twenty feet away. I stepped into the hall, and that was when Jayden's head popped out around the corner at the end of the hall. Her hands popped out too, leveling her gun at me.

 _Oh come on..._

* * *

Jayden Chadsey, D1

Chrome would have been furious if she knew I wasted a bullet on Alinta. We only had six, minus the one we used on Ember. I could have run Alinta down no problem and killed her half a dozen ways without breaking a sweat. But unlike Chrome, I didn't have the heart. If I _had_ to run down a little girl and break her face to win, I would have. I had a gun, though, and I had the option to make it quicker and spare her the terror of being chased through the halls by a boogeyman with brass knuckles. So I pulled the trigger, and what Chrome didn't know wouldn't hurt her. She would no doubt hear the literal gunshot ringing out in a house-sized Arena, but I'd make up a story. I'd tell her I missed, and I was aiming at someone strong. Floki or something.

* * *

Shinju Matsushita, D3

I lay in a claw-footed marble bathtub, trying to hold in my guts as Lyte pushed a chair under the bathroom door handle. Then he climbed up on the toilet.

"Why are we in the bathroom?" Of all the questions, that was the first that came out.

"This," he said as he pulled at the mirror. It swung out on a hinge, revealing a cabinet. Lyte rifled through bottles and jars, knocking some into the sink. He picked out a bottle and a metal tin.

"This is gonna sting," he said as he opened the jar. I knew he was trying to poison me, but he had another think coming. Antiseptic didn't kill vampires.

"Ow!" It still stung them though. I swatted him away and tried to curl up further into the bathroom until I had time to regenerate.

"Hold still. You're going to bleed out," Lyte said. He opened the tin. It held a tiny spool of thread and a packet of needles. For whatever reason, rich people kept sewing kits in their bathrooms.

"You better get out while you still can," I warned him. He seemed to be trying to help, so I'd give him a chance. If he ran away now, I'd kill him last.

"Or what, you'll bite me? I've seen worse," he said. I wasn't expecting an answer like that. He didn't seem scared of me at all. Something was wrong with him.

"What do you think you're doing?" I asked as Lyte threaded a needle.

"Helping you," he said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because you're worth it," he said.

* * *

Vera Busattil, D4

There were three floors in the mansion. More likely four- I didn't see the attic, but why have three floors when four is more expensive? I, of course, ended up in the basement. I was aware of the philosophical implications of my immediate inclination to move downward, but the practical side of the matter was just that most people instinctively move upward when threatened. There would probably be fewer people in the basement, and that meant I didn't have to find out how far down I'd gone. Metaphorically, not literally. I was starting to get the two confused.

It seemed Snow was somewhat of a history buff. Martial history, anyway, which made sense. He didn't start the gladiatorial matches, but he sure didn't end them. So it made sense he had a giant room full of suits of armor and fully decked-out mannequins. It was cool to look at, but it meant something more for me. It was like a fully stocked shopping mall, and I was the only customer.

All of history lay before me, but most wasn't ideal. Most of the mannequins were male, and the proportions of the armor was all wrong. The samurai stuff was totally awesome, but I couldn't run around with a twenty-pound helmet with a three-foot horn span. As I was still looking, I heard a footstep in the doorway. I darted behind an armored mannequin and peered out from it at the intruder.

"Hey. Room for one more? I don't think we're the same size," Floki said. I waved him in. We were District partners, which didn't mean anything in the end, but I'd seen him around. He wasn't the type to pick a fight- just the type to end one.

"Viking stuff's there," I said, pointing at a mannequin decked out in chain mail. It was the real deal, too. Nose guards and metal, not horns and feathers. I gave him a hand with the heavy pieces.

"Thanks," he said when we were finished. "Let's find something for you."

It was Floki who found the perfect match. The mannequin was smaller than me, but not so much the armor didn't fit. Whoever wore it must have been a very slender woman, which meant the armor was light and wouldn't hinder my movement. I didn't take it all, either. I just picked the chest piece and the leg gauntlets. I had chicken legs, and my chest held some pretty important stuff. Floki turned to leave after we were done.

"Hey. Good luck," I said.

"You too," he said. I would have asked him to ally, but neither of us wanted to go there. The beginning would be good, but we didn't want to see the end.

* * *

 **8th place: Alinta Fintan- Shot by Jayden**

 **Alinta was another one who will shine more in the upcoming Resurrection Games. She's a spitfire and a contender, but this time she was another placeholder. On the bright side, she got shot before she had to do the waffle stomp. We'll be seeing more of her, so worry not.**

 **For photo reference, Vera is wearing armor modeled after Joan of Arc's. Joan was a very small woman, so it's lighter armor.**


	8. Basement Dwellers

Floki Grimm, D4

After Vera left, I went back into the armor room. After seeing that, I couldn't really imagine making my headquarters anywhere else. It was absolutely haunting to see the faceless forms wearing armor from all throughout history. I came from one particular war tradition, but there were so many more out there. The armor was crafted in every style I could imagine, but it was all for the same purpose. I could talk to the person inside the scaled samurai armor, or the layered leather Celtic armor, or the dried-fur Aztec armor, and we'd all be talking about the same thing. People were alike all over.

People were alike all over, even if they didn't wear armor. Snow was the one behind this all, even though he couldn't kill anyone with any training by himself. His armor was a fancy suit and his weapon was a signature. It made me sick to think of him as one of us, but really he wasn't. A warrior fought for something outside himself. Snow killed for his own ends.

It was getting harder to keep fighting. Once you saw someone as a person, they could never go back to an enemy. Vera was a lovely woman, stuck here the same way I was. Alinta, Lyte and Shinju were kids. If I'd won my first time around, I'd have children their age. I always wanted children. How could I ever look them in the eye if I'd killed someone just like them?

There was a certain immaturity necessary to be a Victor. You had to be willing to do anything for your own good. If you were the sort of person who put others first or was willing to sacrifice for something bigger, you were toast. The Games were self-sustaining in the end. They weeded out all the people who could have stopped them.

* * *

Chrome Cabello, D2

People like to divide everyone into good guys and bad guys. No one ever thought of themselves as the bad guy, though. The amount of mental gymnastics we were capable of in order to justify our own actions was our greatest achievement. And yet, I think I'd found something more.

There are no good guys. There are no bad guys. For either of those to exist, there had to be good and bad. Those were metaphysical concepts. They existed outside time, space, and humanity. The more I thought about it, the more I wasn't sure they existed at all. The thing about metaphysics is it can't be seen, tested, held, or proven. I didn't believe in things like that. I didn't believe in ghosts, or Bigfoot, or anything that couldn't be sensed. Morality was the same thing.

This wasn't an excuse for me to run around doing whatever I wanted and not feel guilty. It was a discovery that meant guilt was meaningless in the first place. Everyone on the planet had a different definition of what was wrong and what was right. In the end, everyone's definition boiled down to what was right for them. People scramble to claim righteousness for themselves, but their definition always benefits them in the end. In the same way, the societal idea of a universal morality was just a way for society to defend itself. All the "absolute" rights and wrongs we championed were for the good of society. "Don't kill", because society needs people. "Don't steal", because order is necessary for civilization. There was no substance to it, no magic ingredient that made it anything more than an exercise in philosophy. It was pointless navel gazing.

There were other philosophies that dispensed with the idea or morality. Hedonism, for one- that life is ruled by what you enjoy. I wasn't ready to go that far, but I had something similar. If there was no right or wrong, there were no right or wrong actions. There were merely neutral actions. There was death, there was life. Those were universals I could see, and I believed in them. I believed I didn't want to die. There was no reason to avoid any action that would keep me from dying. It didn't make me a monster, and it didn't make me a hero. It only made me me.

* * *

Desiree Redwood, D7

I kept a nervous eye out as I filled a vase with water from a bathroom sink. I hadn't heard anyone around, but half the Tributes left were trained in staying quiet. It was all the worse for me if I ran across Chrome and Jayden. I was not what anyone would call a small target.

It wasn't Jayden and Chrome I ran into the moment I stepped out of the bathroom. I could tell because I didn't instantly get a bullet to the head. When I saw someone move as I stepped from the doorframe, I reflexively punched. I didn't even aim, which came back to bite me when my fist hit Vera's chest. My fingers smashed into unyielding metal, almost breaking my hand. I surged forward and belly-slammed Vera, pushing her out into the hallway. It seemed like a random move, but it had a purpose. I couldn't use a giant battleaxe in a small, cramped bathroom. Vera had a much thinner katana, and she would have had an insurmountable advantage.

After the fight started, I wished we'd both handled it differently. Vera was a Career, but she wasn't a hunter like most of them. If we'd had a minute to talk, we might have both left peacefully. Since we both took each other by surprise, we both had to come out swinging, and then it was too late to stop the fight. But it probably would have ended in a fight either way, once I thought about it. The basement wasn't big enough for both of us. If she made too much noise, it might get me discovered. She thought the same of me.

It was sort of freeing to be fighting so unfettered against so even an opponent. I wasn't bloodthirsty, but everyone wondered deep down how they'd do in a fight. I'd fought plenty of times before and won more than I lost, but I hadn't fought Vera. She was wearing armor, so I had to aim for the head. That wasn't a bad thing, since it was a downward blow and those were more powerful. Vera took a different tack. She dropped to the ground, sweeping her sword out at my legs. I jumped back, but I couldn't get out of range entirely, since the wall was in the way. Her sword slashed into both of my calves, and she rolled into the bathroom doorway to avoid my huge strike as I slammed my axe down at her as my legs buckled. I shoved the axe at her as she retreated, and it cut her all up her back until it clanged off her breastpiece.

Vera cocked her knee back and donkey-kicked my legs, digging into the already painful slashes. She didn't want me to get back up, because if I did, the advantage was mine again. I put a hand on the doorframe to boost myself up and her katana came flying back at me. I yanked my hand back as her blade smacked into the wood. The metal bent like a sheet of paper and snapped, sending razor-sharp shards into the air. I reared back to avoid getting some in my eyes, and Vera shoved the broken edge into my chest. The force of the strike knocked me back a bit, and Vera jumped into the space to press her attack. She stepped on my axe handle to keep it in place as she stabbed me again and again.

 _Can't win them all,_ I thought as she stabbed. _Not that death really means anything anymore. Tomorrow is another day._

* * *

 **7th place: Desiree Redwood- Stabbed by Vera**

 **Des took her death really well, for sort of a meta reason. Tinks already knew she wasn't going to win and agreed with me that this story would have no effect on Des in general, so I had her have a pretty lackadaisical attitude. Like everyone else who dies, she'll be more in the spotlight in the Resurrection Games.**

 **META NOTE: Vera went back to the armor room and swiped a sword from a mannequin.**


	9. Holy Long Chapter, Batman!

Jayden Chadsey, D1

We'd swept the attic and upper floor. Alinta was taken care of, and the only other ones there were Shinju and Lyte. We knew the two pipsqueaks were holed up in a bathroom. We just didn't care. We'd come for them when we were ready, if Shinju hadn't recovered and killed Lyte by then. Then we'd just come for her. Before that, we were aiming for the real targets, and it seemed they were all in the basement.

Doorways were always dangerous, and Careers were trained in them. We had Peacekeepers come into the Academy and show how they swept a room. Chrome and I went in tilted back-to-back, so no one could sneak up on easy of us, and we were both ready to retreat at a single movement. But the room was empty. Only soulless mannequins greeted us, each decked out in one style of armor or another.

"Someone's been here before," Chrome noted, looking at a medieval mannequin whose worn cloth showed that some armor had been removed.

"Probably Vera," I said. "And she had a good idea. We should steal it." We started looking around the room, noting pieces we could use. There were a ton of weapons, too, which was nice. We had plenty with us, since bullets didn't last forever, but more was better.

I wandered in front of a mannequin dressed in Viking armor. The armor was far too heavy for me, and it was too large for it to wear. I discarded it immediately. It didn't discard me, though- it reached out a hand and grabbed me around the neck.

* * *

Chrome Cabello, D2

People looking for something in particular can miss the most glaring details. I noticed now that the Viking mannequin was wearing the wrong helmet. It was wearing a knight's helmet. The kind that covers your entire face. If I'd noticed, I might have chalked it up to nothing more than an ignorant Gamemaker, but I might have seen it for what it was. It was too late for regret now. Floki had Jayden's throat in the crook of his elbow, and he was easily strong enough to crush the fragile arteries and only slightly less-fragile windpipe.

Jayden, however, wasn't helpless. She struck backwards at every bare place in the armor, aiming her powerful punches wherever she could. I couldn't shoot at Floki without hitting her, but she was taking care of herself. She twisted back and forth, gasping in air whenever she could. While I couldn't shoot at Floki, I could still attack him, and I did. I grabbed a short sword from a nearby mannequin and ran at them. Floki took the smart way out by simply backing up, knowing that if he could stay out of range for just a few more minutes, he could finish the job with Jayden and come at me unhindered. He was losing his grip on her, though. I could see she was about to wriggle free.

Floki saw it too, and he again took another option. He relaxed his choke hold to grab her by the nape of her neck and pinched his free hand around the base of her leg. He lifted her above his head horizontally, and the very sight set me back a step. The sight of an armored Viking warrior holding a full-grown woman aloft like a barbell was something I would never forget. I also wouldn't forget the sound it made when he dropped her, still twisting like a cat, straight onto his bent knee.

* * *

Floki Grimm, D4

I wasn't the type to start a fight anymore, but I didn't consider this starting one. Jayden and Chrome came in looking for a kill. If they'd seen me, they would have killed me. Even if they missed me this time, we would have come together eventually. They were the only two I wouldn't feel any guilt over killing. Monsters are only good for slaying.

Jayden was a berserker all her own. Every exposed bit of my skin ached from her assault. Chrome was looking for a way in, and I knew she'd find it soon. The only thing to do was eliminate one of my opponents so I was fighting one-on-one. I pushed my muscles to the limit, and I felt them stretch as I heaved Jayden into the air. I hoped there was enough height there to kill her and not do what I was afraid it might.

The celery-stalk sound of a snapping back was so quiet it went almost unnoticed in the chaos. Jayden was limp as I tossed her as hard as I could at the wall. If she wasn't dead, I wanted to make sure that finished it for her. Chrome opened fire as soon as Jayden was clear. I counted the bullets as they glanced off the armor.

 _One._ A bullet clanged off the edge of the chainmail bordering my throat. The force was still enough to break the skin and knock me back. I knew she had four bullets, counting that one. _Two._ She shot my leg as I ran at her, sacrificing a potential kill shot to slow me down. _Three._ She wasn't letting fear get the best of her. That one hit me just beyond the chainmail, in the collarbone. _Four._ As I reached her, she fired another into my stomach. At that point-blank range, chainmail couldn't stand up to a six-shooter.

* * *

Chrome Cabello, D2

A bullet in his leg, and he kept coming. A bullet in his sternum, and he kept coming. A bullet in his stomach, and he kept coming. I fired as rapidly as my fingers would go at the juggernaut running toward me. Each impact made him hesitate for only an instant as the blast rocked him backwards. He reached me with three bullets in him and grabbed my arm. I dropped the useless gun to focus on my sword. Floki caught the gun and swung him arm like a club, whacking me across the face with a pistol and knocking me sideways off my feet. I twisted so I wouldn't land on my sword, and the impact bruised my ribs. Floki knelt over me with one leg on either side of my waist, sitting on my stomach as he beat me with my empty gun.

Floki couldn't live with three bullets in him, but he could go long enough to take me with him. I bent my arm back awkwardly to have enough room to stab him with it. I shoved the sword through the hole the gunshot left in his chainmail. The blade went through his stomach and came out the other side, leaving a little tent where the chainmail on his back bent over it. It was then I realized that with the angle the sword now stuck into him, there wasn't nearly enough room to pull it back out and stab again. I was reduced to jerking it back and forth in the wound as Floki battered my face. I tasted bits of my lips and felt shards of my teeth digging into my cheek as my head was knocked into the floor again and again. The blows were weakening, though. Floki just didn't have enough muscles left to keep going. I curled up with my abdominal muscles and wrenched sideways, until blood and white wormy bits spilled out of the hole in Floki's armor. He dropped one hand off the gun to try to hold them in, and the proceeding blows were that much weaker. He started to slump on top of me, until there wasn't enough room between us to get any power in his blows. I watched the heaving breaths in his chainmail grow shallower, and then the heat radiating from his body started to cool.

* * *

Jayden Chadsey, D1

The worst thing that could possibly happen to a Career had happened to me. Sheer terror was flooding through me, like what the outliers must go through when they see us. I wasn't even ashamed of it. Even a Career was afraid of this.

When the cannon went off, I couldn't tell whose it was. Floki was almost full-length across Chrome, and when she stirred, it took a minute to see it was her. She wriggled underneath Floki's bulk, trying to move his huge form. He was a big man, and the armor added another huge weight. Chrome was reduced to an awkward worm shimmy as she inched her way out from under Floki. She finally shed him like a snakeskin and stood, so battered I barely recognized her. She came over to where I was lying by the wall and stood over me.

"A lot of help you were," she said. "All right, get up." She watched my face carefully at the last words. She saw the tears welling up and confirmed her suspicions.

"You can't, can you?" she asked. I pushed up with my arms, trying vainly to prove her wrong. After all Floki did, it didn't hurt. Past my legs, I felt the worst thing a Career can feel- _nothing at all._

"'To the end', wasn't it?" Chrome said. "Seems like the end to me." There was no use arguing or pleading. Dead weight was the same as dead. Even if Chrome was my best friend in the world, there was only one thing to do with a lame dog.

Chrome cocked the gun at my head and pulled the trigger. There was a click, and she smiled at her own mistake.

"That's right. No bullets," she said. She looked around at the room we were in. "I think I can make do."

* * *

 **6th place: Floki Grimm- Three gunshots, impaled, and eviscerated**

 **No one seemed to think Floki was the Victor, so that meant it was time for his exit. I had everything laid out for this story, but I made a few rearrangements to put this scene here. Floki has been changing and developing a lot through his appearances, and I shall have to study him carefully if he gets nominated for the next Resurrection Games. He was the only male character I thought of immediately when it came to this Games. He's so cool, even biased old me thinks he's cool.**

 **5th place: Jayden Chadsey- beheaded by Chrome**

 **Worry not, Jayden lovers. Chrome is still pragmatic, and she didn't draw things out. She took her sword and cut Jayden's head off neatly, because there can be only one. It could have been either Jayden or Chrome here, depending on who the chosen Victor was (though it was never necessarily either of them). I thought it would be cool to have that scene with Floki and picked the unlucky sap who got Bane'd. For photo reference of the act, see the panel of Knightfall where Batman gets Bane'd. Do not use The Dark Knight Rises, since it is vastly inferior and totally mucked up a VERY IMPORTANT COMIC BOOK MOMENT. Seriously, one of the most important in history. But I digress.**


	10. Sunlight

Lyte Anderson, D6

Shinju was remarkably still when I stitched her up. The girl kept talking about being a monster. She probably didn't want to give it away that it actually hurt. She glared at me all throughout the procedure, and inspected the work when I was done.

"I would have healed anyway," she said.

"Nice of you to let me do it then," I said.

"I hope you don't think this means I'll let you live," she said.

"You have so far," I said.

"I didn't feel like it yet," she said. She paused, trying to make it look like she didn't care about the next question.

"What does that mean, 'you're worth it'?" she asked.

"Just what it sounds like. You're worth saving," I said.

"I killed a girl," she said.

"You're still worth it," I said.

"I tried to kill more. I killed half a dozen people before I got Reaped," she said.

"That's pretty bad. But not bad enough," I said.

"What _is_ bad enough?" she asked.

"Nothing," I said.

"You mean if I killed a hundred people, and then I tried to kill you, you'd still want to help me?" she asked.

"Yep," I said. Shinju glared at me, as though trying to look right through my baloney and find the real truth. She was going to have to look a long way.

"No one starts out like this," I said. "Even the Careers were little once. We all start out as innocent little kids. The ones who go wrong, something happened to them. Something happened to break that innocence and turn them mean. That's all I see when I look at them, even the ones that like killing. I wonder what went wrong, and I wish they could be little kids again. But I can't heal that."

"Can anything heal that?" Shinju asked.

"I hope so," I said. "I _think_ so." There was another lull. "I can fix some things, though. I'm pretty hungry. How about you? I can fix that. Sit tight, I'll be right back."

* * *

Shinju Matsushita, D3

"You should be careful," I told Lyte when he came back with a box of cereal and a jar of peanut butter.

"You worried about me?" he asked.

"No," I said. I pretended to be very interested in my handful of cereal. It wasn't my ideal food, but there was precedent. The books said vampires drank from animals if they couldn't use people, and they could go a long time without food. One got buried a hundred years and came out fine. The cereal was just to get the ache out of my stomach.

"You were right," I said.

"About what?" he asked.

"I used to be a normal little girl. You're right. It doesn't happen just like that," I said. I wouldn't normally talk about it, but Lyte was different. It wasn't that he was just _that_ sweet or _that_ understanding. I just knew there was no chance someone like him would live, and dead men told no tales. He waited for me to continue.

"You want to know what makes someone turn out like that? First her parents die. They don't care enough to live for her. They die and leave her all alone in a cesspool orphanage. Everyone around her is smart and can move up in the world, but she's dumb. She can't do math or science or anything else anyone values in Three. She's a useless little leftover girl. The only thing she can possibly stand out in is hurting people."

"You don't have to do anything to stand out. You stand out all on your own," Lyte said. _What is this boy, a living fortune cookie?_ No wonder he died like ten times.

"You think I'm the victim here. No, the people I _killed_ are the victims. I'm the monster, remember? No one made me into this. It's what I am. I chose it. It's done and over. No going back."

"You chose it?" Lyte asked.

"That's right," I said.

"Then you can choose not to be," he said.

"I didn't choose it," I backtracked. "It's what I am."

"You're a vampire," Lyte said, in a rather bored tone for such a statement.

"I'm a vampire," I said.

"Guess it would be really bad if I did this, then," Lyte said. He reached up over the bathtub and pulled the windowshades open, flooding the room with light. I hissed and knelt in the tub, crossing my arms over my head and waiting for the burning pain. But nothing happened.

"Would you look at that. Guess you're human after all."

* * *

Vera Busattil, D4

It hit me hard to see Floki's face projected on the ceiling after the Anthem played. We were three days into the Games, and only four of us were left. Lyte's luck wouldn't run out forever, and Shinju couldn't hold up against me or Chrome. Just me and Chrome, then- she must have gotten tired of her ally. Only one real opponent. I could finally start thinking about victory.

I could actually have a real life. Being a Victor wasn't entirely normal, but it was more so than this back-and-forth life I led a few weeks at a time. I still wasn't too far behind Frankie. We could make it work. Of course, he wouldn't care even if I looked half a century younger. To him, I would be the same Vera. I could finally have something other than fighting and running and hiding and dying.

I'd changed so much from when I first volunteered for the Thirty-Second Hunger Games. Back then, it was practically a lark for me and Whyte. We had no idea what we were getting into, and we paid the price. It had been so long since I'd seen Whyte. There was a time I wanted to be his girlfriend, but we drifted apart. I wished him the best, wherever he was, but it seemed he'd found someone else, too.

What would I even be without the Games? I could start a family, but I didn't know if I wanted a child in this world. I'd already lost one before I even knew her. I didn't know if that scarcely-formed child was a boy or a girl, but I'd always thought it was a daughter. I thought about her every time I came back. She was a lost future for me. Everyone had a million possible futures, and she was one I'd never have back. I didn't even know if Frankie wanted children.

It wasn't just Frankie I'd see, either. It had fifteen years since I'd seen my little sister Elsie. She was the reason I volunteered early in the first place. I hadn't seen her around the Capitol, which meant she made it to eighteen without getting Reaped again. What was she like now? Was she married? Was I already an aunt? And what about Zale? Did my hyperactive little brother make it to adulthood without getting himself killed? Did my parents still hope I'd come back, or had they given up on me? My life was in limbo ever since I first died. Frankie broke free, but I was still stuck. Even if I never got out, he would always be waiting.

* * *

 **Yay no one died this time! Since there are only four left, I slowed things down a little. Still, we're pretty close to the end. Like five more chapters tops.**


	11. Spirited Away

Lyte Anderson, D6

Shinju unfolded one arm and watched the light playing across her skin.

"See? No monster. Just a girl," I said. She reached out her hand and pressed it to the window pane.

"It can't be that easy," she said. "What about all the people I killed?"

"They're dead. They're not going to feel better if you stay evil. The best thing you could possibly do is not kill any more," I said.

"They won't forgive me," she said.

"You can't control who forgives you, but you choose what you are," I said.

"How did you get so wise?" she joked.

"I'm like thirty years old," I said.

People don't turn evil overnight, and they don't turn back overnight either. Shinju didn't say much for the rest of the day, which passed without event. She was still recovering from the huge slash all down her front, and I didn't want her pulling her stitches out, so I went out for food when the time came. It wasn't as dangerous as it sounded. The kitchen was a floor beneath us, but the laundry chute ten feet from the bathroom led right down to the laundry room, which was next door to the kitchen. I slid down the chute and landed in the hamper that stood underneath it. I was climbing out when I heard the announcement.

* * *

Chrome Cabello, D2

 _"_ _Attention, Tributes. Please stop what you are doing for a short recess. I have a very important announcement from President Snow."_

It was one of the Gamemakers. Theodora, it sounded like. I recognized her voice from some Capitol broadcasts. But she never interrupted the Games. Something weird was going on. Whatever it was, it meant a break from the Games.

 _Will Lyte Anderson please report to the front entrance of the Arena? The Games are currently in recess. Any attempts to attack Lyte or anyone else will be considered an infraction of Games rules and will be punishable by death."_

* * *

Vera Busattil, D4

 _What is going on?_

The television set into the sitting room I was prowling through flickered to life, showing the entry room to the mansion. Theodora was standing shortly inside the door. Lyte walked past the doorway of my sitting room, coming from the direction of the laundry room down the hall. I shot him a quizzical look as he went, and he held up his hands in confusion. I watched the screen as he appeared in the entry room with Theodora.

"Mr. Anderson," she greeted him. "President Snow wishes to extend his heartfelt gratitude for your actions regarding his daughter Rose, which may have saved her life. At her behest, he wishes to grant you a full pardon from your Reaping."

"What?" Lyte asked, obviously understanding what she meant but unable to believe it. "Like, a full pardon?"

Theodora smiled at him. "That's right, kid. You're coming with me." She gestured at the open door.

" _Gaaah!"_ I shouldn't have done it, but I couldn't stop myself. I screamed out loud in sheer delight, throwing up my hands and hopping like a little girl. My little friend Lyte, the boy who held my hand and stared down a Camazotz, was safe! He was going home! No more resurrections, no more killing, no more Black Death, no more Death Bat... he was safe. A Career should have composure, but that went out the window. I was crying and laughing all at once. I was a total mess.

* * *

Shinju Matsushita, D3

I heard Theodora over a loudspeaker, and the mirror in the bathroom turned into a screen, showing the scene.

"What about Shinju?" Lyte asked.

"Sorry. I'm here for one kid," Theodora said. Lyte looked up the stairs ruefully.

"Can you at least send her some food?" he asked.

"I'll do what I can," Theodora said. "Let's hid the road. I might design Arenas, but they still give me the creeps." Lyte followed her out the front door, turning back to wave at nobody.

 _Did he really mean all that?_ I knew the answer. I just didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to believe anything could be good in my life. It was easier to accept that I'd always be a monster and be hated than to hope that things could change. I didn't have to put any effort into improvement if I was evil by nature. But Lyte was gone now. I could go back to the way I was.

 _I don't want to._ For the first time in a long time, I didn't want to kill anyone. I'd turned to murder because it was the only way to express the anger in my heart, but I wasn't that angry anymore. I was still plenty bitter and resentful, but not as bad. Lyte reset me, in a way. He showed me I wasn't a monster by nature. I had the choice in front of me again. Little girl, or vampire. I looked in the mirror, at the reflection I didn't think would be there. The reflection was of a girl. That was what Lyte saw when he looked at me.

Like he said, it was my choice in the end. It wasn't my parents or the other kids who made me into a monster, and it wouldn't be Lyte who changed me back. I was who I chose to be. My past would always be part of me, but I chose what I did with it.

I walked back to the window and stuck my hand into the sunbeam. Something came to mind that was deep and cheesy all at once.

 _I choose light,_ I thought. _I choose Lyte._

* * *

 **Chekhov's Heimlich Maneuver strikes! I chose Lyte solely so he could redeem Shinju- I knew nobody would think he could win, since I made him. However, I had a stroke of inspiration when I remembered Rose would be hanging around the Capitol. Lyte can't win, but he CAN live.**

 **Not really any place, since he didn't die: Lyte Anderson- pardoned**

 **Funny story: I made Lyte as a filler back when I didn't get tons of submissions. I gave him a boring Six named based on a car headlight, so the light theme was a serendipitous coincidence. Since he has now died four times, I think I have sufficiently showed non-favoritism. He became an ensemble darkhorse right away and I didn't want to keep killing him in Resurrection Games, since I was afraid I would run out of ideas for him eventually and he'd get stale. That very popularity means I don't think anyone will protest this ending for him. I'm sure we're all happy to see Lyte get what he deserves.**

 **IMPORTANT INFO: Lyte's pardon was not broadcast to Panem at large. His family was told, and anyone who looks really hard at the Games Center staff could find out, but he's not really famous in-universe. When the next Resurrection Games came, people assumed he wasn't popular enough to be chosen. Lyte was sent to medical school in the Capitol and was put to work in the Games Center, since he sort of belongs to the Capitol, like Victors. He works as a first aid instructor during the training period and is part of the medical team that patches up new Victors.**

 **These last chapters were Shinju and Lyte-heavy, but you can see now it was because Lyte was going to be gone soon. Chrome, who has been underrepresented of late, will now be a bigger part.**


	12. Porcelain Throne

Chrome Cabello, D2

I didn't care whether Lyte was alive or dead. As long as he was out of the Arena, that was one less threat to me. He was never a threat in the first place, but strange things happened in the Games. It was me and Vera now, after I took care of something.

All along, Jayden and I had known where Lyte and his friend were hiding. There was just no reason to go after them. Now, with three of us left, it was just a matter of course. Even if Shinju couldn't kill me, I wasn't allowed to leave the Arena until she was dead. I reached the door and tried the knob. It was locked.

"Hey. You wanna open up?" I asked. I didn't expect a yes, but it was irrelevant. I was coming in either way. I heard Shinju moving around inside the room as I pushed against the door. It was solid, but nothing I couldn't get through eventually. I had all the time in the world. It wasn't like Shinju could go anywhere.

Shinju Matsushita, D3

The moment I admitted I wasn't immortal, I was forced to accept my impending mortality. I knew either Chrome or Vera would come after me eventually. I would have at least cleared out and found a better hiding spot, but Chrome was too quick for me.

The door shuddered as Chrome kicked at the hinge side. It was strange going up against someone who was actually bigger than I was. Even when I thought I was a monster, I always went after small targets. I started to search the bathroom, looking for anything that could help me out. Lyte might have changed me, but he didn't turn me into a copy of himself. I was still ready to kill if it was self-defense. I opened the cabinet behind the mirror and started rummaging through it.

* * *

Chrome Cabello, D2

 _I think I read a horror story like this once._

I kicked the door again and again, bringing my knee up and slamming my leg out like the Peacekeepers showed us. The wooden door started to splinter near the hinges, until the entire door leaned inward and to the side. I took advantage of the angle to kick harder, and the door buckled even further. I could feel from the resistance that there was a chair stuck under the handle. I'd have to topple the door in entirely, but it would only take a few extra minutes.

On the next kick, a sudden, sharp pain shot through my leg. I pulled it back with a gasp and saw Shinju's hand pulling back into the bathroom, a straight razor glinting in her hand. _Guess I walked right into that one,_ I thought. It wasn't a critical wound, but it hurt like a son of a gun and it meant I couldn't kick with that leg without getting slippery blood all over the door. I paused for a minute to tie a quick strip of cloth around the wound.

"You'll be sorry for that," I called through the door, which was tilted enough for me to get in as long as I was careful about Shinju and her razor.

"You were already going to kill me," she called back. "Kick again. I dare you."

* * *

Shinju Matsushita, D3

Chrome stuck her arm into the bathroom, crooking it around the door to push the chair down. I swiped at it immediately, wondering what she was thinking to expose herself like that and why she was wearing gloves. My blade got stuck in the cloth, and I only yanked it out with difficulty. I saw then that she was wearing a _Peacekeeper's_ jacket and gloves. They were made to withstand bullets, and my little razor wouldn't be a problem. I wondered where she'd gotten it, not that it was important. Chrome's hand found the chair and she started to work it out from underneath the handle.

I could have bought some time by grabbing her hand, but I had a different idea. I took the lid from the top of the toilet and raised it over my head, bringing it down on her arm and hand. She screamed and pulled back, and when she did, I smashed the lid into the mirror, shattering it. The force of my first blow had unfortunately knocked the chair out of the way, and I knew Chrome would be inside in seconds. I gathered the shards of glass from the sink barehanded, even though they sliced into me. Chrome threw the door open and stepped in, and as soon as she did, I threw the shards in her face. Chrome screamed again, more piercingly this time, and batted the glass away from her face.

"That is _it!"_ she shrieked, shards of glass still stuck in her face and trailing blood from a dozen tiny cuts. She grabbed me by my hair and threw me down sideways at the edge of the tub. My head cracked against the marble edge and blood oozed from it as I lay half-stunned. As Chrome bent over me to smash my head again, I stuck the razor straight down through her shoe and into her foot on her wounded leg, so hard that my hand slipped down the blade and cut my fingers and palm to the bone. Chrome screamed a stream of filthy words and kicked me in the face with her healthy foot, her hurt leg buckling as my head snapped back and my vision swam.

I hoped Lyte was still being brought to the Capitol and wouldn't see this. Shinju braced hand on the bathtub rim as she picked up her good foot and set it on my throat, pressing down with her full weight. I was deprived of breath for only a moment, since my bones crunched and my throat collapsed after that.

I was dying, but I'd never been so happy. It seemed I had so much to be happy for. Lyte was safe. I was happy for him, but also for what it meant for me. There was someone out there who would never leave me, since I would only be here for a few minutes. Someone out there was going to cry over my death and miss me. I _did_ have value, and it _was_ wrong that I was dying. I looked out the window at the light streaming in. My body was dying, but before it did, I found out I still had a soul. And souls never die.

* * *

 **3rd place: Shinju Matsushita- Throat crushed by Chrome**

 **SUPRISE! It wasn't her. I almost didn't pick Shinju because I thought no one would believe I would really make a Victor of her (I totally would, though, especially after this reaction. Maybe next Resurrection Games. We'll have to see). Lucky thing I did, because she turned out to be the best red herring of all. I included her mostly so I could have the development into a good person so she's ready for the next Resurrection Games already. I was afraid people wouldn't accept it, since she was literally a child murderer before she got Reaped, but I'm glad they did. I, for one, forgive literally anything if the person shows repentance. Darth Vader killed like twenty kids? It's okay, he repented, he's a good guy now. Now I'm kind of afraid the finale will be a letdown since it's not Shinju, but I'll do my best.**

 **Our thanks to The Iron Giant for "you are who you choose to be" and "souls never die".**


	13. Short Lil' Chapter

Vera Busattil, D4

I was in the final two. I'd never gotten this far before, though I was probably this far percentage-wise in the Resurrection Games. It was embarrassing, but I was so scared I felt like I was going to throw up. Second place was worse than twentieth place. The idea of getting so far, coming so close to Frankie, just to blow it at the end and let him down again haunted me. Everything I'd done so far, all the fights I'd won, none of them mattered. All that mattered was this last fight. All my potential futures rode on one all-or-nothing, winner-takes-all fight.

I was so restless I was shaking. I'd never had an easy time staying still. My teachers used to complain about how fidgety I was. They would encourage me to train more just so I'd be tired at school and wouldn't be such a handful. I knew I had to stay still and make a plan before I charged off and got myself killed, but it was eating me up inside not to move. _Go check the cellar,_ I would tell myself, and have to shove it down. _Look upstairs. Gather weapons. Make a barricade. Anything, as long you're_ moving.

 _You have to stay focused. Pull yourself together and act like a Victor._ Judging from the racket I'd heard from upstairs before Shinju's face showed up on the ceiling last night, Chrome wasn't unscathed either, which made me all the more restless to get to her before she healed herself with all the medicine her sponsor was no doubt sending. My legs ached to just run up there and go at her, just so this would be over, risks be darned.

 _Make a plan. Make a plan and execute it._ I went over what I already knew. Chrome was wounded. She was likely spending a lot of time at the Cornucopia, or a room near it. An idea came to me, and my stir-crazy legs seized on it in a heartbeat.

It wasn't hard to keep track of where you were in regards to the other floors. I snuck to the room directly underneath the Cornucopia and pricked up my ears. As I'd hoped, the acoustics of the heavy stone floor over my head sent any noise down at me. It was faint, but I heard the sound of footsteps going in a circle and then branching off to another room. I wasn't charging off blindly anymore. I knew exactly where Chrome was.

* * *

Chrome Cabello, D2

Vera knew I was injured. The racket I'd made with Shinju was mostly for her benefit, though she _had_ gotten on my nerves by the end. I was hoping she'd charge right out and attack, not knowing I was healed within half an hour, thanks to all the bounty in the Cornucopia and the cream a sponsor sent me, which somehow dissolved the single fragment of glass that made it into my eye without damaging the eye. Vera was cagier than I thought, though. On the bright side, that gave me more time to set up.

There was a gorgeous, luxurious master bedroom a few rooms away from the Cornucopia room. That wasn't where I'd been staying, though. I had to settle for dragging a couch into the Cornucopia room, since it was the type of room I needed. I used a bow primarily, and I wanted a wide, open room. A bedroom or any small space gave Vera an unbeatable advantage, since she preferred a sword. I wasn't planning to leave anytime soon, either. Vera would come for me sooner or later. I'd seen the way she fidgeted and moved around in the training center. She couldn't stand sitting still. She'd come to me, and whoever chose the battlefield ran the battle.

I wondered who the Capitol was rooting for. I didn't need their approval, but it rankled at me that they probably considered Vera the "good guy". We were both killers. She was just the one with the sweet little love story. She wasn't the only one who loved someone. The people cared when a starry-eyed girl wanted to get back to the man she gave her heart to. I had someone waiting for me at home, too. A sweet, caring little girl named Jessie, daughter of the same sack of shit father who saw us as nothing but potential Victors. The only thing that would keep her out of the Arena was if I won. So maybe I wasn't the bad guy after all. But I was forgetting my own philosophy. There was no bad or good, only what me make to serve our own ends.

A scraping rattle down the hall signaled Vera's arrival. I stood tucked behind the door of a small parlor just off the Cornucopia room, aiming an arrow at the large doorway to the room. When she came into view, I fired. My arrow flew true, thudding right into the mannequin she was pushing in front of her.

* * *

 **Instead of a REALLY long finale, I ended at the start of the battle. Stay tuned!**


	14. At Last

Vera Busattil, D4

I wasn't as dumb as I sometimes acted. Chrome used a bow and arrow. She obviously favored the admittedly understandable strategy of simply shooting your opponent before they even reach you. Some of my instructors at the Academy looked down on the bow, saying it was unsporting. Most of them admitted it was the smart way to go, though, and being smart was pretty much Chrome's defining characteristic.

It turned out, Chrome was so smart she wasn't even above a strategic retreat. When she saw she couldn't shoot me and was in danger of being cornered in a small room, she ran, pulling a knife from her belt as she went. I'd thought she might do that, which was why I was carrying a forearm-length marble bust of President Snow in my free hand. As Chrome fled for a smaller door leading to the servant's back staircase, I chucked the bust at her back. Her armor may have protected her from blades and bullets, but it didn't stop a very heavy marble statue from knocking her flat on her stomach. I sprinted at her as she got up and slammed my sword down early, missing her but hitting my target.

* * *

Chrome Cabello, D2

Most people would go right for the kill. Only a Career would know to take the shot with the best chance of doing damage, not the one with the chance at doing the most damage. As I twisted out of the way, Vera's sword sliced through my bowstring. In the second it took her to recover from the shock of metal hitting marble, I rolled under the table and dragged myself to the other side, putting it between me and her. As she turned to come at me, I grabbed a ninja star off the table and threw it at her. I hadn't trained with them, but I couldn't miss at that distance. It stuck into her cheek, and she didn't even bother to yank it out as she came for me. Instead of trying to run around the table, Vera opted to leap onto it and come straight at me. I couldn't run without leaving my back open to whatever projectiles she chose, so I met her halfway. I swept my knife at her feet and when she jumped back, I jumped on the table with her.

* * *

Vera Busattil, D4

In terms of armor, we were evenly matched. We were both using blade weapons and both had our torsos and legs covered. Chrome's arms were protected as well, but I could get around that. I had the longer blade, which meant a lot. It meant I struck first and Chrome had to go on the defensive. She stepped around the blade and closer to me, hoping to get inside my strike. I knocked into her sideways with my shoulder, hoping to knock her off balance. She stumbled, but as she did, she slashed her knife across my sword hand. Like most Careers, I'd trained with both hands, but I wasn't as good with my wrong hand. I switched hands swiftly as I stepped back, sacrificing a second for Chrome to plan. She used it to snatch up a mace.

 _Dang, she's fast._ A mace didn't take any skill to use, and I couldn't clash a katana against it. The delicately forged metal would shatter. _Hope this one still works._ I dropped low, swiping at her legs. She did the obvious move and slammed the mace down at my head. I ducked to one side and as I did, I grabbed a dagger off the table and stuck it up under her pants leg and into her bare flesh. She kicked me in the chest, sliding me back on the table and leaving me open to another strike from her mace. I got ready for a crushing blow to the chest and dodged aside, but her mace smashed into my ankle instead, shattering it. Even as the pain made me scream, I grabbed both her hands above the mace and tugged, bringing her down with me. We rolled on the weapon-covered table, grabbing at whatever was in reach and smacking each others' hands away from daggers, swords, arrows and everything else sharp and pointy in the world.

* * *

Chrome Cabello, D2

We were too close now for Vera to be able to use her katana. I punched her right in the jaw as she grabbed for a dagger, and she elbowed me across the face when I went for a throwing knife. The palm of her hand shot up into my nose, driving my head back and making my eyes water. For a crucial second I was blinded, and I launched myself backwards up off her so she couldn't use that second to finish it. Instead of grabbing a weapon, Vera grabbed my leg in both arms and braced her legs against my stomach as she rolled, breaking my leg at the knee. I backhanded her across the face and she lost her grip on me, falling onto her back. I snatched a dagger and drove it down at her, aiming for the bottom of her stomach where the armor stopped. She wiggled down a foot so she took it in the metal breastplate, sending a numbing shock through my hand. I yanked the blade down across the metal until it gashed her hip and upper leg. She got me back by kicking me full strength between the legs with her metal-plated leg.

We were killing each other, inch by inch. One inch too many would be what decided everything. One inch longer, and Jessie would be safe and Vera would be dead. No good endings, and no bad endings. Just an ending.

* * *

Vera Busattil

 _Just this once._

I was killed once by two Careers. They came at me together, and there was nothing to be done. I threw one's shruiken back at her and cut the other's face off with the knife I tore from my bloody ribcage.

Chrome's knife arced across my face, slicing my flesh and barely missing my eye.

 _Just this once._

I was killed once by a creature from Hell. It wore eyes around its neck and its wings were painted with blood. I ran at it to help an ally, and it ran my bleeding form down in a misty, moonlit jungle. The bravest boy I'd ever known held my hand as we watched it come.

I punched Chrome in the throat and got up on one knee, dripping blood from my mouth and my stomach as Chrome stood up to strike down at me.

 _Just this once._

I was killed once by a girl from Seven. I saw her axe shimmering under her camouflaged cloak and stopped her from slamming it into Frankie's body by letting her slam it into mine. I died in his arms, losing my love a second time.

My arm went behind me to the sword by my side.

 _Just this once, let me do it right._

Chandelier light glinted off Chrome's mace as she brought it down in a controlled, guarded blow toward my head. Another glint joined it as my sword raised toward her. The thin blade slid underneath her jacket and into her soft flesh. The fabric on the back of her jacket raised into a pyramid and burst open as she started to slide down the blade.

Three times I died. And one time I lived.

* * *

 **We couldn't have a table piled with weapons without having a brawl on it, could we?**

 **2nd place: Chrome Cabello, D2- Run through by Vera**

 **I had to write Chrome super carefully so she wouldn't be so villainous she gave the game away. I pulled out all the stops in developing a philosophy bordering on nihilism and hedonism but preserving her sympathy enough that she was still a contender. Her submitter knew she wasn't the winner, so it worked out to have her be second. I needed Vera to beat someone REALLY good in order to deserve her victory, and Chrome definitely fit the bill. I'm sure this isn't the last we'll see of her.**

 **Victor: Vera Busattil, D4**

 **So now you know. It was Vera all along. I'd never be that obvious, right? HA! You overestimate me. Now that it's done, I can tell you why I wrote this entire story to make Vera a Victor. Basically, I didn't want her to be in the next Resurrection Games. I wanted her to win so much that I couldn't have in good conscience let people submit others who didn't have a chance. I decided to clear her out of the way, since the Resurrection winners have all been from really old stories (like Vera) and I wanted room for some new blood. I love how her romance with Frankie became something I never could have predicted, and you all know I'm a sap for happy endings. I knew I had to make her earn it, though, which is why I put in so many challenges and gave her extensive internal development. She died three times before she made it here, and each of those deaths brought her closer to attaining Victory. This was just the last step.**

 **Congratulations, YesMyLordCiel! I've liked Vera from the start and wanted this to happen for a long time. She's based off you, so I guess now you can tell people you've won the Hunger Games. I'm so glad you stuck around long enough to see it happen.**

 **I'll do a few cleanup chapters and add some fun background facts about why I chose each of these red herrings and why I didn't choose some others.**


	15. Epilogue Part 1

Vera Busattil, D4

It was the first time I actually woke up after a Games. As soon as I was sure they wouldn't knock me back out, I opened my eyes and sat up in bed like a zombie. I didn't _intend_ the zombie look- it was just such a sudden and violent movement that it would have surpised anyone but Frankie.

"I'm back!" I crowed as I opened my eyes to Frankie. He had apparently gone to another Capitol stylist asking to be made "pretty" for this grand moment, judging by the makeup and styled hair. He was holding a bouqet of roses in one hand and my hand in the other. He leaned in and pecked me on the lips as I sat up.

"I missed you," he said. Frankie was probably the most honest person who ever lived. He knew he didn't have feelings and wouldn't insult me by lying. "I missed you," though, could still be true. He felt my absence, and he preferred my presence.

"I missed you too, _and_ I love you," I said. Everything could have ended right there, and it would have been all right. It was the perfect ending, wasn't it? A happily ever after.

But life went on- for the first time, _my_ life went on. I threw off the covers and got out of bed. I'd spent enough time lying down. Probably more time than I'd spent standing up, with all the years I'd been dead. I kept hold of Frankie's hand as I stood.

"This is it. We're together forever now," I said. I'd known it was coming when the front door to Snow's mansion opened and the medics walked in, but I still wanted to say it. I wanted to say it over and over.

"How did they explain this one, anyway?" I asked. They said earlier the Games wouldn't be broadcast publicly. They had to explain an extra Victor somehow.

"Snow gave some generic speech about the Capitol populace extending mercy to the people and everyone voting for you. Something about true love and Capitol glory. I wasn't paying much attention," Frankie said. I didn't care either. Politics wasn't my game.

The door cracked open, and Lyte peeked in. "Is the mush done?" he asked.

"Heyyyy!" I called out as I waved him in. "You're still here?"

"I pretty much live here now," he said. "If you'd won next time instead of now, I would have been the one to patch you up. They made me a medic. Go figure."

It was so perfect it was almost eerie. It was like watching a horror movie and all throughout people die horribly, and then at the end a happy ending comes out of nowhere. I half-expected Chrome to burst out of the morgue and come for me. But she never did. As rare as it was, sometimes even Panem had a happy ending.


	16. Epilogue Part 2

**Background note for new peeps: Frankie was born with complete anhedonia- he doesn't feel emotions. After his Victory, he was able to achieve a semblence of emotions with psychadelic drugs. Basically he drops acid, but it's high-tech Capitol acid. And it's legal in Panem. No main characters doing crimes in MY stories. Just child murder.**

* * *

I didn't have a coronation as such. I was a unique category of Victor, and it was a weird in-between place. Since the explanation was that I was picked to come back partly because Frankie was an ideal Victor for Snow (of course), I was allowed to live at his house in Eleven. I was also allowed to live in the Victor's Village of Four, though I'd have to move out if it got filled. There were a lot of houses there, so that wasn't a problem. The new interviewer- _wow_ a lot changed since I last died- felt bad about the whole deal and made a crown for me. It was an icy silver tiara thing with crystals. He didn't know much about my personality, so he went with my looks instead. I dug it.

* * *

As surreal as winning had been, it was even weirder to see my family again. My baby brother was older than I was. I had two more brothers born after I _died._ How weird was that? My father was almost sixty years old, but he looked as young as ever as he walked me down the aisle. Frankie's mother was even older when she walked with him, the scars on her arms scarcely visible.

The Capitol had been calling for a wedding from the moment I woke up. Frankie was all over it. He'd told me about his unconventional way to achieve emotions. I had to admit that the first time I saw him actually experiencing happiness, I screamed, it was so freaky. I'd gotten used to it since then. I never would have thought I could see him really smiling as we exchanged our vows.

"Do you, Frankie, promise to love and protect Vera as long as you both shall live?"

"I do," Frankie said. And I knew he would. That man protected me from the Grinning God of Death. After that, everything else was pretty tame.

"Do you, Vera, promise to love and protect Frankie as long as you both shall live?"

"I do." Even if Desiree Redwood with an axe wasn't quite as impressive.

* * *

"Did you want to have any kids?" Frankie asked a few months later. I knew right away something was up. He hadn't taken his drugs, but he was obviously hiding something.

"I don't think I'd be a good mother. I can't take care of a baby if I couldn't keep _myself_ from dying three times," I said, trying to keep things lighthearted. I still didn't know what to feel about the baby I lost in the Arena. "Why do you ask?"

"Lyte was just wondering," Frankie said. "He said he thought you might say that, but that you maybe should have thought of that a few months ago."

"What's that supposed-" I started, and then it hit me. "Oh, no."

"He seemed to think it was pretty funny. He said to tell you there's a thing called contraception," Frankie said, and he pulled something from his pocket. "This isn't that, though."

"No, it's a _pregnancy test!"_ I almost screamed. "Gimme that!"

One might think the stress would cause shy bladder, but that was one problem I didn't have. I stared at the little black "yes!" as I sat on the toilet with Frankie standing by.

"No... no. I can't be a mother. What kind of life would my kid have? We're not exactly conventional parents," I wailed, half-comically and half-earnestly. I wished I could start laughing hysterically so the crying wouldn't get even worse.

"It's okay. I got all the stuff," Frankie said. He went into another room and brought back a giant box. "Lyte told me what I needed." He held up a tiny onesie and I started crying all over.

"Do not worry. Just a minute," Frankie said. He opened the medicine cabinet and took out a bottle of pills. He'd gotten more exact with his medications since I'd gotten back, since he needed them more. It was freaky how fast they worked.

"See it's okay, we're gonna- Oh... we're gonna have a baby," Frankie said, the pills kicking in mid-sentence. It was worth all the terror to see his placid face light up.

"You want a baby?" I asked through tears.

"I never even thought about it before now," he said. "I could be a father! I could hold a tiny little baby and be a good father." He started to cry, and that just made me lose it. "It would think I was normal."

I pulled up my panties and slid off the toilet, kneeling by the box. "All right, big guy. Let's see what we got here." I pulled out another onesie, revealing a tiny pair of socks. I thought of the little clothes with a baby inside and got weepy all over again.

"Did you get a bottle?"

"Yes."

"How about diapers?"

"Yes."

"A monitor?"

"Yes..."

* * *

 **It made more sense to break the epilogue into two parts. I left a lot of Vera's wedding vague so her submitter could put dress pictures or descriptions and stuff on her page if she wants. Vera's submitter (YesMeLord) is also looking to discuss with Frankie's submitter (sorry, it's been so long since he first appeared that I forgot) the kid situation. She'd like three kids.**

 **You might call this story an indulgence on my part. It IS a really happy ending, like that random perfect ending in some versions of Minority Report. Usually I try to stay realistic, but sometimes I wax poetic. I'm sure Vera and Frankie will have many struggles and hard moments in their lives. I just stopped writing before I got to them. Other than the part where they died five times between them. That was pretty hard.**

 **Okay, NOW it's time for the normal SYOT! I'll put it up pretty soon. The slots are full but the waitlist is open if you want to try your luck.**


	17. Bonus Info

Titian Qin, Head Gamemaker

 _Maybe if I pal up with Josephus he'll let me help him make the mutts. Not the math and science stuff. He can do that. I'll just do the design part. Let's see if he can make this cool cyclops with laser eyes and six machine gun arms. It's gonna need a pilot, too..._

* * *

 **I forgot I was going to tell why I picked each Tribute and why I didn't pick some others!**

 **Jayden- she almost won her Games and had a lot of fans. I thought people would definitely think she could win.**

 **Chrome- She was also very near the end of her Games and had a lot of fans. I also know you know I gravitate toward cunning Tributes.**

 **Keylor- I just kind of needed another boy. I knew no one would fall for that one.**

 **Alinta- You all know she's one of my favorites. I DO allow 12-year-old Victors so there was a chance.**

 **Floki- He's super cool and definitely could have been the Victor. He's one of the ones that benefit most from Vera not being in the next Resurrection Games.**

 **Ember- She almost won her voting Games and has a really cool story.**

 **Shinju- Everyone wanted to see the development and see just how anyone could make THAT into a Victor.**

 **Lyte- Double red herring- he was just there to develop Shinju and get pardoned so I don't run his character into the ground in upcoming Resurrections.**

 **Des- She had good placings in both her Games and is quite the fan fave. She has the personality of a Victor.**

* * *

 **There are a few people I didn't pick, even though they would have been good. As follows:**

 **Hailey Falkenrath- she is currently a phoenix.**

 **Victory Amarinthine- I just had too many girls to pick from**

 **Emma Wolfe- I like her too much to use as a red herring**

 **Steel Keshmin- She don't deserve this crap.**

 **River Summer- Her story is complete and I didn't want to drag her back in for no reason**

 **Anyone Tracey made- That would be totally mean.**


End file.
